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A review by sidharthvardhan
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
1.0
Somebody please tell me that a twelve year old who just saw his mother being kidnapped won't go around making jokes. Okay, I don't mind a few jokes, but i don't want a joke as big as this book. It actually took me over a year, after once starting it, to develop courage to finish it.
The first person account is one of most annoying things in the book, which twelve year old talks like that - I don't think Rick has it to enter psychology of a twelve year old. No wonder the guy in movie wasn't twelve year old; I mean honestly has the author seen a kid in all his life.
If you ignore for once the little trivia about Greek gods (which I shall criticize shortly), it is just a shameless coping, no, an insult, of Harry Potter series. If anything, it goes on to show, why Harry Potter is more than just a adventure story. Besides the little adventures, HP was full of allegorical references (to real world), wonderful characters and beautiful writing. She had managed to enter the psychology of both children and adults like no one else can. HP created in one a philosophy that can act as basis for a child to form attitudes towards such things like death, drugs, good or evil, hunger for power. This one has nothing of that. There is no way for example, that it would come so intriguing a character as Snape or such wonders as Platform Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
It is just how timid mind of a gamer would have seen HP - fights and pranks. Just think of it, a monster doesn't die, if you kill it; and will come back to haunt. Isn't that the kind of thing, that happens in video games?
Now the only argument in favor of book was connections it made to Greek goods. Here are four replies that can be made against it:
1. The basic system is stolen from HP - full time school became summer school, Greek creatures rather than magical ones and so on.
2.Anyone in our generation knows about Greek gods, there are video games and movies all over places, and it is internet age friends. Hades actually looks like same character from Disney cartoon series 'Hercules'.
3. This is most important argument, it was stupid. I mean just give it a thought - 'spirit of western civilization', I mean are you kidding me. what about eastern, northern and southern civilizations - do they have gods too? and if these children of gods are so undesired, how come they are called heroes? What about children gods would have with goddesses? Will they be immortal? because in that case, we must have a population explosion of gods.
I normally don't care about logic that much, if it is a good story but it is just nonsense redefined. I mean, I never asked the logic of wands in HP but that was because Rowling made it look real.
Yes, it is a best seller but that doesn't make it a great book, does it? HP fans were hungry for more and so switched to sub-prime authors. And don't tell me that i'm too old to like it, I read children books all the same. I could go on criticizing the book but i don't see any point in doing that.
Instead of reading it, I would recommend reading HP; and if you have read it, read it again and if you have already read it twice; just give it one more reading - it would still have much more in it than Percy Jackson.
The first person account is one of most annoying things in the book, which twelve year old talks like that - I don't think Rick has it to enter psychology of a twelve year old. No wonder the guy in movie wasn't twelve year old; I mean honestly has the author seen a kid in all his life.
If you ignore for once the little trivia about Greek gods (which I shall criticize shortly), it is just a shameless coping, no, an insult, of Harry Potter series. If anything, it goes on to show, why Harry Potter is more than just a adventure story. Besides the little adventures, HP was full of allegorical references (to real world), wonderful characters and beautiful writing. She had managed to enter the psychology of both children and adults like no one else can. HP created in one a philosophy that can act as basis for a child to form attitudes towards such things like death, drugs, good or evil, hunger for power. This one has nothing of that. There is no way for example, that it would come so intriguing a character as Snape or such wonders as Platform Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
It is just how timid mind of a gamer would have seen HP - fights and pranks. Just think of it, a monster doesn't die, if you kill it; and will come back to haunt. Isn't that the kind of thing, that happens in video games?
Now the only argument in favor of book was connections it made to Greek goods. Here are four replies that can be made against it:
1. The basic system is stolen from HP - full time school became summer school, Greek creatures rather than magical ones and so on.
2.Anyone in our generation knows about Greek gods, there are video games and movies all over places, and it is internet age friends. Hades actually looks like same character from Disney cartoon series 'Hercules'.
3. This is most important argument, it was stupid. I mean just give it a thought - 'spirit of western civilization', I mean are you kidding me. what about eastern, northern and southern civilizations - do they have gods too? and if these children of gods are so undesired, how come they are called heroes? What about children gods would have with goddesses? Will they be immortal? because in that case, we must have a population explosion of gods.
I normally don't care about logic that much, if it is a good story but it is just nonsense redefined. I mean, I never asked the logic of wands in HP but that was because Rowling made it look real.
Yes, it is a best seller but that doesn't make it a great book, does it? HP fans were hungry for more and so switched to sub-prime authors. And don't tell me that i'm too old to like it, I read children books all the same. I could go on criticizing the book but i don't see any point in doing that.
Instead of reading it, I would recommend reading HP; and if you have read it, read it again and if you have already read it twice; just give it one more reading - it would still have much more in it than Percy Jackson.